Some production shots Matt shared in an email update 
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Gotta love the color co-ordination between Balsam and the chair. Thatās attention to detail 
In all serious though, this looks like a beautiful machine, on par with the sounds it makes.
I wish them all the best!
[EDIT 1: I just watched the demo video again just to fuel my gas and couldnāt help notice that the shirt being worn is the same blue also! Respect!]
[EDIT 2: OMFG this was a recommended video in the side barā¦ what is this Blue rabbit hole Iāve stumbled into: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aJq2qcb_J10]
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looks humongous big but sounds so nice
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Itās about the size of the Perkons. It isnāt tiny, but to say humongous is sort of a wild choice. But I say this as someone who plays guitar in a band with drums and has lugged 810 bass cabinets around, so maybe Iām the weirdo who actually appreciates something without micro knobs and tiny buttons that isnāt actually that fun to play all in the name of being ultra-compact. Personally, I think that fixation has swung the pendulum way too far out of wack and am happy there are some instruments that are centering a comfortable and enjoyable playing experience.
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Regardless, itās a beautiful piece of gear and one Iāll add. It looks like itās already been tweaked since 2021 so out the door it should essentially be mature
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Connected to the web interface to edit tunings and it looks like itās 8 banks of 8 tunings too, so thatās more than enough for me.
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Wow, looks neat! What do the sliders feel like, are they the really glassy Octatrack type ones or more like Minibrute or something?
Not sure what āglassyā means but thereās definitely a bit more resistance to these sliders than the OT crossfader and itās been at least a decade since Iāve even seen a Minibrute.
All the sliders and buttons and knobs feel fantastic though. Some have detents too. The feel of all that was a huge source of nervousness and am pleased to say I think he knocked it out of the park.
I may do a video in the next day or so where I just basically mic the buttons, knobs, sliders, and sort of try to describe the haptics. Itās something I donāt feel like many videos make an effort to cover and itās the only sensible thing to cover before someone has spent a lot of time with a tool.
Or I may just keep fiddling and having fun 
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Made a video today in the interest of spreading the word: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eLl-U5Cln_U
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whatās the material of the faceplate? I live in a high humidity, salt-air coastal city, so certain materials will pit over time (elektron faceplates, my xone92, mackie mixers for instance)
From Matt:
Brushed aluminum/silkscreen print (clear anodized 6061)
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Another to demonstrate the audio a bit, but really Mattās initial video does a better job of that. https://youtu.be/wOii2_wiYbg
Some friends roasted me for the ASMR video and some commenters complained about the lack of audio of the actual synth. Hopefully this shows a different dimension from Mattās on some level. 
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Dude that video gave me GAS to put next to the Buchla
Donāt know how itād interface with the Buchla but obviously thereās a lot of aesthetic overlap visually 
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Itās strictly aesthetics . It just matches
Iād argue thatās a terrible reason to spend that much money on a synthesizer But there are a lot of folks out there who would disagree Iām sure and have elaborate setups more for Instagram and such than actually practical music making.
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Manual is published: https://midi.glx.ltd/
Yeah, my hope is that the manual showcases some aspects of the BALSAM that the initial video might not emphasize. Some folks found my later video (with audio from the BALSAM, not my video on the haptics) helpful to show a bit of a different style too. That said, the voice architecture isnāt anything super revolutionary though there are a handful of nice and smart little touches I think. Otherwise, pretty meat and potatoes synthesis. It doesnāt sound like a Buchla particularly, so I do wonder how much the visual aesthetic might confuse/mislead folks.
The special sauce is in the sliders/playing interface and the interesting polyrhythm sequencer. Itās just interesting and fun to play.
Iād imagine I said above somewhere that I also really REALLY appreciate that itās an opinionated design. Matt made deliberate choices to define what the BALSAM is about. Too many new electronic instruments are trying to do it all to satisfy everyone and it waters down what might make some instruments special. Iām glad this is the antithesis of that energy that seems pervasive.
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